


It's Not A Forest

by Midnightsecho



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: It's really just fluff, M/M, faceless people, happy endings, spoilers for Eternal scouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:04:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightsecho/pseuds/Midnightsecho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil hopes Earl will continue to be terrified and proud in whatever new reality he finds himself in. But what reality DOES he find himself in? A strange city of smog and busy streets and a letter, to tell why, exactly, he was taken and not killed. Everyone has a part to play, and Earl has just found himself a new calling. More or less.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not A Forest

**Author's Note:**

> We have like... No clue what Earl is like, do we? I hope my headcanons don't conflict with yours. I'm really sick of sad stories where Character A is just using character B. Let's give Earl a happy ending, for a change! (Also I realize that Khoshekh is only injured a LOT later than Eternal scouts. Just go with me on this one.)

The people in this town were faceless.  
Every last one of them, with smooth features. It was horrifying.  
He managed to keep his cool and not scream, though, And that was probably a good thing. Didn’t want to insult anyone. Some people were just different, he knew that. It’s how life was. Earl had just… Rarely seen faceless people. He knew of one living in his house, but had never seen her.

Once the initial shock had worn off, he found himself walking down the sidewalk of this busy street. A red streetcar passed him by. Many cars passed by. Where were his feet taking him? Who knew. But he trusted himself. He had a great sense of direction, even if he didn’t really know what he was going to. The city was nothing like Nightvale.It was a big city, and there were many, many people hurrying about their day. None of them were familiar at all, faceless or not. He stopped walking about a block away from where he’d come to, in front of a small looking townhouse. There was a tree and a tire swing in the yard, so he stopped to wonder if he should go inside or not. But the keys in his pocket fit, and the mail in the mailbox had his name on it, so he decided to. Instincts told him, and a scout always has the greatest of instincts.

Inside the floor and walls were wood paneling, and it looked like someone had painted stars on the roof. There were pictures, but they were blurred. Earl couldn’t make any of them out. The couch was familiar, though, and he rested on it with a pleased smile. At least something was familiar. He heard a quiet noise, like scratching, and, looking to his left, he saw a small, black cat wander over to him.  
It was not faceless, but it did have an eye missing. It plopped itself down on his lap and purred, so he decided to check the collar for a name.  
Khoshekh. Like the cat that lived in the radio station bathroom. Suddenly, the pictures were no longer blurry. Some of them were of him, and a bunch of children he did not recognize. But they were scouts, and wearing scout uniforms. Some were familiar pictures he’d had up in his house of him and Cecil, and his other friends. There were pictures of him and Cecil camping, and of Janice playing on the tire swing outside (It finally made sense to him why that was there) and Khoshekh rolling around, being playful. There were a lot of pictures. he followed them into the kitchen, where the stars were still painted, but the left wall was a mural of a place by the sea, and the table was pressed against it. Khoshekh seemed intent on following him around, so Earl found some treats in the cabinet and gave him some. There was a door that led outside to a small backyard and a garage. Had Earl lingered just a moment more at the window, he’d have seen a car pull up. But instead he opened the door next to him, which led into another room. It could have been big enough for a bedroom, but it was full of things from both him and Cecil. He could tell, because their names were written on the boxes.

The realization hit him just as the door was opened. Khoshekh sprinted off, meowing in annoyance. It was not a sound Earl recognized as a cat noise, but he still understood it was anger at leaving him alone so long, or something of the sort. There were only two more rooms to explore, and one was surely the bathroom, so he instead turned towards the door.  
It was, most certainly, Cecil, taking off his shoes at a slow pace. And then he seemed to freeze, seeing a second pair, the ones that belonged to Earl, and he looked up.  
And stared. And Earl stared too, but probably because Cecil was the first non-faceless person that he’d seen so far.  
“Where have you been? You’ve been missing for days!” Cecil said, and hurried over to him with a concerned expression. “Are you even alright? I mean, I’m sure you must be, you’re good with those kinds of things, but… At least tell me! I filled a missing person’s report and everything!”  
But Earl could not answer, because he could not. He wasn’t really sure what had happened in the first place. But it didn’t matter, because this Cecil hugged him tightly and smiled. “I guess it doesn’t matter. You’re home now. Let’s go out and eat to celebrate!” he grinned, and so Earl nodded in his confusion. Cecil nodded to him too, and then wandered off into the bathroom.

For some odd reason, he felt drawn to a letter. The one he’d found in the mailbox with his name on it. So he wandered over to the desk and opened it while Cecil got ready. He was showering, by the sounds of it, and Earl didn’t really blame him. Showers were nice after long and stressful days.  
The letter had black ink, handwritten in a pretty font.  
“Our children are in great need of your assistance. Our scout masters decided to leave for greener pastures, and so our scouts are threatened with closing. These poor children live in a big city and would not have the opportunity to learn about the great outdoors and the environment without their scout group. Obviously, you know how important it is that children get this opportunity. In exchange for your service as scout master for our children, we are granting you this lovely life. Hopefully you will decide to stay with them.  
Thank you.  
Ah, and the Cecil you know from Nightvale says he wished you be both proud and terrified in whatever new reality you find yourself in. How caring! We are sure there is no need for terror though. Not if you do things properly. We are certain you will.”

“Are you ready?” Cecil called, walking past him to the room on his left. Earl glanced back down at the paper, but it was no longer the same. Instead, it was some mundane hydro bill.  
“I should get changed,” he said with a shrug.  
It felt like he’d been in those clothes for an eternity.


End file.
